In food service establishments, such as restaurants and convenience stores where coffee and tea are served, condiments, such as cream and lemons, must be provided which need to be maintained in a cooled or chilled condition. Often several of these condiments, such as cream, are more susceptible to spoilage than others. Such condiments require the reliable and thorough cooling and chilling thereof.
In order to remedy the above-mentioned problems and to provide a suitable cooling device, the condiments are often made accessible by either: (1) simply placing the condiments on the cooling agent (such as ice); or (2) by placing the condiments in a container which loosely rests or sits on the cooling agent (such as ice). Unfortunately, both of these means of cooling or chilling run a high risk of contamination from the chilling or cooling agent; also, in the second case, while more effective than the first case, nonetheless looses its effectiveness as the ice melts and the container and its contents of condiments becomes unstable because of buoyancy. This can also lead to the condiments being contaminated by being splashed or spilled. Finally, neither of the above arrangements permits any particular condiment to be subjected to a more thorough chilling or cooling effect than the others.
Of interest to the present invention are the following portable cooler arrangements:
In the U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,347,713 issued to Morrison, et al, there is disclosed a portable nd self-contained ice bucket having a compartmentalized portion for chilling condiments and the like. The bucket includes a base portion which is double-walled to provide an insulating effect; in which the cooling media, such as ice, is disposed. The bucket is open ended at the top and includes a complementary support of a compartmentalized condiment tray thereon in communication with the cooling media. This tray also serves as a cover or closure for the bucket.
While being extremely useful for its intended purpose, the device taught by Morrison, et al does not provide any means whatsoever, whereby any particular condiment may be subjected to a greater chilling or cooling effect than the others. The bottom wall of the compartment tray is level throughout its length and the cooling medium (ice) contacts only the bottom wall of the tray, thus, the device of Morrison et al is not able to substantially surround any of the condiments by the cooling media.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,543,524 issued to Oliveira discloses an isothermal food and liquid carrier to maintain food or beverages in a heated or cooled condition. The device includes a double-walled chest to provide insulation. The heating or cooling means is carried by the lid. Thermogenic receptacles are inserted directly into the chest for providing means for maintaining the temperature. The cooling means is electrically controlled and is not adaptable to use with ice or other liquid or potentially liquid cooling means.
While also being suitable for its purposes, the arrangement of Oliveira also has several drawbacks which make its use undesirable. In particular, there is no means by which any particular condiment in the chest can be more throughly chilled than others while being substantially surrounded by the cooling effect. There is only one compartment provided. Thus, each condiment disposed therein would cool similarly. If the chest were compartmentalized, then the cooling media would not substantially surround a particular condiment. Rather, the best that can be achieved is having cooling media on two sides of any compartment.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,440 issued to Taylor also discloses a portable cooler which is compartmentalized. As taught therein, only one surface of the coolant container is in direct communication with only one surface each compartment. Unfortunately, such an arrangement also does not either substantially surround any particular condiment or provide for a more through cooling of any particular condiment
Accordingly, it can be seen that there remains a need to provide device for cooling or chilling condiments, beverages or the like which can provide a particular condiment with a more through chilling or cooling than the remaining condiments and which can substantially surround a particular condiment with the cooling medium.